SLIDESHOW: Hoosick Falls football fans follow team to Carrier Dome

Hoosick Falls High School football fans Bryan Schrom and Ray McGarvey cheer as Hoosick Falls defeats Hornell, 34-21 in the New York State High School Class C football championship game Saturday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. (J.S. Carras / The Record)

SYRACUSE -- Armed with the signs they'd made, more than 1,000 Hoosick Falls High School football fans carpooled to make the nearly three hour and 14 minute trip to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to support their team in its first New York State Class C championship appearance since 2003.

While the Panthers' fans have always traveled well, Saturday's matchup against Hornell was something special.

Hoosick Falls had spent the entire season seeded second behind the top-ranked Red Raiders, a team that boasted a recorded 51-game win streak before Saturday, and the Panthers' fans knew that they had to make the trip to Syracuse to make some serious crowd noise in support of their squad.

Crowded into half the Carrier Dome, the Hoosick Falls contingent did its job, shaking the stadium and getting into the heads of Hornell players as the Panthers earned a state title with a 34-21 victory.

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"The twelfth man definitely helped us out here," quarterback Billy Pine said of the enormous audience. "I think our whole entire town was up there. That's huge."

While the Hoosick Falls school district was able to fund buses to transport the cheerleading squad and pep band, the fans drove to Syracuse out of pocket, simply for the chance to see their athletes crowned state champions.

"These kids know that the community is 100 percent behind them," Hoosick Falls athletic director Brett Lamy said. "Everywhere we go and everything we do, the community is behind us. You couldn't ask for anything better."

The strong showing by Hoosick Falls fans not only made a difference in volume but also pushed the Panthers to perform at their peak, making plays for themselves and for the people who have supported them unconditionally all season long.

"You can't even explain it," junior Levi Brewster said of the support. "It really gets you pumped up. You hear the crowd and it's just so incredibly satisfying."

For the first time in the history of the school, the Hoosick Falls football team will return home as champions, crowned the best Class C football team in the state.

But they won't be going home alone.

The 50-man team will be flanked by fire trucks, police cars and dozens of fan vehicles, escorting their champions back to what has recently been dubbed 'title town.'

"We all travel so well," Panthers coach Ron Jones said. "It's great for the kids and for the athletes and the community as a whole."